ESPN’s Clayton: omnipresent, yet local

Friday, November 29, 2013

Sports buffs know John Clayton, “The Professor,” as an NFL expert who broadcasts on ESPN television and radio. Some in the Northwest show surprise to learn that Clayton honed his skills locally, covering the Seahawks for The News Tribune in Tacoma from 1986-98 before leaving to work for ESPN full time. Football fans across the country hear Clayton tirelessly appearing on their local sports shows to talk about their local teams. So when he does so on ESPN Radio (KIRO-AM) in Seattle, many assume he’s a big-city broadcaster from back East who happens to know a lot about our Seahawks. As it turns out, only Seahawks fans can truly lay claim to The Professor. He’s a local guy. Clayton lives in Renton and broadcasts many of his live segments from his in-home studio, just a few miles from the Seahawks’ VMAC headquarters on Lake Washington. An ESPN promotional spoof of Clayton broadcasting from his mother’s basement has garnered more than 3 million YouTube hits. Read the News Tribune story, and check out the ESPN spoof.